WEBERIAN THEORY OF STRATIFICATION

Question 1

Why did Weber criticise Marx?

Answer 1

• Weber criticised Marx for concentrating only on economically based class inequality. He argued that society was also stratified by status (based on esteem in the eyes of others) and party (based on access to and ability to influence political power and decision making).

Question 2

What else did Weber argue>

Answer 2

• For Weber, social class was based on market situation - the scarcity and value placed on people’s skills in the labour market, and therefore how much they could sell their labour for. This meant there was a diversity of classes (not just two).
• Different classes have different life chances - the chances of obtaining those things defined as desirable, and of avoiding those defined as undesirable, in any society.
• Societies were stratified by:
  1. social class - groups sharing a similar market situation
  2. status - groups sharing a similar status e.g gender or ethnicity
  3. party - groups that have or try to influence political power.
• Class, status and party may coincide, but status and party can also cut across class - e.g black and white male workers may have a similar market situation (class), but be divided by the status difference of ethnicity.
• For Weber, class, status and party may each provide a basis for division and conflict in society, so the system of stratification is much more complex than Marx’s simple two class sytem.
• Weber’s distinction between class, status and party has the advantage over functionalist and marxist theories of being able to explain a wider range of inequalities in contemporary societies, such as those based around gender, ethnicity or age.

Question 3

WEAKNESSES OF WEBER THEORY

Answer 3

1. Difficult to measure the concept of status
2. Difficult to measure the power and influence of parties
3. For Marxists, status and political power are subsidary to class - money buys both.
4. Marxists would argue that the status distinctions within the working class are often simply encouraged as a means of the ‘divide and rule’ by the bourgeoisie. From this perspective, Weberian theories do not attach enough importance to the centrality of economic factors and class conflict.

Question 4

STRENGTHS OF WEBERIAN THEORY

Answer 4

1. The multi-dimensional nature of this approach avoids the economic determinism of Marxism
2. Weber’s theory can be used to partly explain gender, ethnic and class inequalities since these groups can be described in general terms relating to their market situation, their status and their ability to organise a party sense.
3. The weberian view of class is more complex than the marxist view as it takes into account property ownership and market situation
4. The weberian view of class has influenced the classification systems used by the british government.